Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / iii / Paper 10 / 5 / e

Take complex-valued functions. Pointwise multiplication is associative and commutative, with identity the constant function $1$, whose norm is one. The product rule givesTo prove completeness, let $(f_n)$ be a Cauchy sequence in this norm. The functions and their derivatives converge uniformly to continuous functions $f,g$. Passing to the limit in $f_n(t)-f_n(0)={\int }_0^t{f}_n^{\prime }(s)ds$ gives $f(t)-f(0)={\int }_0^{t}g(s)ds$. The fundamental theorem of calculus yields $f^{\prime }=g$, including the one-sided endpoint derivatives. Thus $f\in C^1[0,1]$ and $f_n\to f$ in the stated norm. Consequently $A$ is a unital commutative Banach algebra.

Let $u(t)=t$. If $\lambda \notin [0,1]$, then $(u-\lambda 1{)}^{-1}(t)=1/(t-\lambda )$ belongs to $C^1[0,1]$. If $\lambda \in [0,1]$, the function $u-\lambda 1$ vanishes somewhere and cannot have a pointwise inverse. Thus ${\sigma }_A(u)=[0,1]$. Every character of an algebra satisfies $\varphi (u)=t_0$ for some $t_0\in [0,1]$, by part (d), and therefore $\varphi (p(u))=p(t_0)$ for every polynomial $p$.

Polynomials are dense in this stronger norm, not just the supremum norm. By the Weierstrass approximation theorem, approximate the real and imaginary parts of $f^{\prime }$ uniformly by polynomials, combining them into $q_n\to f^{\prime }$. Put $p_n(t)=f(0)+{\int }_0^t{q}_n(s)ds$. Then $p_n$ is a polynomial andContinuity of the algebra character now gives $\varphi (f)=\lim p_n(t_0)=f(t_0)$. Conversely each point evaluation is a continuous algebra character. Hence the character space of C1 on a compact interval consists exactly of the evaluation functionals, and part (c) givesDistinct points give distinct maximal ideals, since the coordinate function separates them.